Our Family - by Katie Dunn '14

Freshman Katie Dunn (Silver Spring, MD) showed her creative writing talents before Tuesday's game when she read this poem as a part of our pre-game. Must've worked! The girls were victors 3-1 over Baldwin-Wallace.

Our Family

Like most families, we're pretty strange.

But it's something we can't change.

Sometimes the coaches mock us,

And refuse to post the best video of the bus.

Some of us are in Lord of the Rings,

Awkwardly funny as Chelsea sings.

Some are in a romantic pair,

Kendra and Ashley have us there.

And did you know, we have a zoo?

An owl and some penguins too!

We play and laugh and run,

This group of animals is too fun.

Yes, we're silly, but serious as well.

Postseason appearance? Only time will tell.

Juked John Carroll, outplayed Oberlin,

Grasped Grove City, and killed Kenyon.

Our family is like a crutch.

Our family has love, so much.

Our family is ready to play,

Our family will beat Baldwin Wallace today!

JCU Tournament - by Frannie Hogan '11

This past weekend, the Case Women’s Soccer team piled into three vans and headed across town to play Oberlin and Grove City in the John Carroll Classic Tournament. While I’m sure Coach Tiff and Buddy’s van rides were fun, undoubtedly the best van was Coach Taylor’s. On Friday, we jammed to some groovy tunes from our front seat radio DJ Amanda Woj. The next morning, we were treated to a mix by Vaci with Top-40 hits along with old winners such as “Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go” by Wham! Our dancing shook the van and got the attention of some other drivers, including an older man who put his hands in the air and gave us a shout out.

Once we arrived at John Carroll on Friday, we warmed up and got going against Oberlin. We knew we could win the game if we put it away early, and Leah started us out only 8 minutes into the match by slotting her first goal of the year…and her career! We became a little disorganized after her goal, but refocused on our possession in the second half. Ashley put us ahead when she beat an Oberlin defender and hit the back of the net early after halftime. We picked up momentum from Ashley’s goal, and soon after, Becca knocked in a goal from a beautiful corner kick from Devo.

A few minutes later, I received the ball in the box and scored for the first time in a long time. As soon as the ball hit the back of the net, I had a flashback to a goal I’d scored my sophomore year. That time, I was so excited that I immediately began jumping for joy and hugging my teammates, only to notice afterward the sideline referee was still holding up the offside flag. Remembering that embarrassing situation, I stopped this time to check and make sure the goal counted. When I got the OK, I celebrated! Scoring felt great, but the hugs and congratulations from my teammates made it even better. We ended up blanking Oberlin 4-0, and headed back to campus for a good night’s sleep.

Saturday morning started with a fruit and bagel team breakfast courtesy of Amy Baumann. We packed up and headed back to John Carroll for Day 2 of the Tournament. Grove City was going to be a tough game, and we knew we had to come focused and ready. We got on the board early again, when Becca scored her second goal of the tournament as she slipped the ball past the keeper. Looks like Coach Tiff’s “Toe Poke” drills from a few years ago have paid off! With Becca’s goal, we pushed against Grove City even harder, and I was able to chip the ball in over the keeper about 20 minutes later. How excited was I? More excited than when The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King Extended Edition DVD was released (in other words, a lot).

Grove City never stopped working, and they managed to notch one goal against us in the second half. Case kept the lead to the end, however, making us the John Carroll Classic Co-Champions! As a team, we definitely learned a lot about our strengths this weekend, as well as our weaknesses and how to overcome them. Our first official home game is this Wednesday at 7:30pm versus John Carroll. Hope to see you there!

Labor Day Weekend - by Devyn Lee '13 (State College, PA)

Devo outdueling her opposing center mid

After two hard-fought games this weekend, I think it’s safe to say that most of us members of the Case women’s soccer team will spend Labor Day attempting to do anything but labor…

The weekend began with a trip to Panera in Strongsville on the way to Kenyon. Everyone loaded up with various bagels and sandwiches, much t o the chagrin of the employees. Upon arriving at Kenyon, everyone was awed by the beautiful new athletic center on campus, but being that we arrived a little later than we would have liked, we did not have time to explore. After an initial mixup that would have had us sharing a locker room with the Oberlin football team, we all changed quickly and trekked down to the field for a somewhat abbreviated warmup.

Heading into the match, I think we were all eager to improve upon a disappointing performance at Wooster, so there was definitely a lot of excitement, and from the opening tap, it was clear that this was going to be a very different game. We were proved right, when about 20 minutes in, a sophomore midfielder netted her first collegiate goal, poking the ball into the net after sliding in between the keeper and a defender. Haha, so I was the one who scored, much to the excitement of my teammates and parents, who made the trip to Gambier from PA. At halftime the score remained 1-0, though we did have several other close opportunities.

The second half was a little tighter than the first. Kenyon came out full of fire, and certainly had a few chances that made us all nervous, but our excellent back line and keeper managed to keep the ball out of our own net. Finally, Kendra scored on a beautiful shot with about 10 minutes left, and the nail was all but pounded into the proverbial coffin for Kenyon. Notably, Woj saw her first collegiate game action, if only for a few seconds at the end of the match. But she did get a touch on the ball!

After showering, we headed to the Leveys’ house in Bexley, some of us on the bus, and some riding with our parents for the chance to catch up. The Leveys’ house offered tons of yummy food, excellent conversation, and a chance to play with their adorable Bernese Mountain Dog, appropriately named “Moose.” It was a great chance to relax and allowed parents, siblings, coaches, and players to mingle and enjoy each other’s company. A select few of us even learned Buddy’s middle name, which out of consideration for him will not be repeated here.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we had a chance to flop onto our beds and check out the wireless internet connection before we gathered in a conference room for some team-building. We played “Two Truths and a Lie,” where we learned, among other things, Maeve is not allergic to iodine, Vaci has never kissed a hamster on the lips, and Coach Taylor hates to swim. After that, we did an exercise in which everyone put their name on a sheet of paper, and then we passed them around the circle, and you wrote down something you love about each person on the team. It was a good bonding experience, and left everyone with a warm and fuzzy feeling inside. The Carnegie Mellon team was actually staying at the same hotel, and after some consideration, we decided it would probably be a bit classless to vandalize their bus, so we refrained.

After some much needed rest, we met up on Sunday morning for a scenic stroll on a path along the highway, ate some of the splendid continental breakfast, then headed to Denison.

A stirring pep talk from Coach helped to get us psyched for the match against Denison, and if that didn’t prepare us enough, the first few minutes of the game showed us what a good team they were, and if we didn’t get our act together, they were going to dominate us. It was a tough contest all the way through, with close chances coming from both sides, and some very physical play. We had to forget our tired legs from the previous match and put everything possible into the game.

Our efforts were rewarded somewhat when it was still 0-0 at the end of regulation, but that meant that we still had 20 minutes left to finish a chance and earn the win. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to find the net during overtime, but neither was Denison, so it worked out ok. We came away partially satisfied that we held our own against such a good team, but also angry that we weren’t able to pull out a win. That shows just how hungry everyone on our team is to have a great season this year, and I think this weekend showed us glimpses of our true potential.

Devo with her parents at last year's Parent Picnic.

Preseason Day Four - Sammy Sarett '12

(Sammy (center - striped shirt) with her teammates on a bus trip from the '09 season)

Today was our last day of preseason before classes start tomorrow. We practiced in the afternoon; it was cloudy and drizzling, great soccer weather. We focused on ball skills for the beginning of practice, moving on to a channel drill that rewarded creativity in attacking. It was a tough but overall fun end to our preseason.

After our practice today, we had a lifting session with the track coach. WE didn't actually lift, but he discussed with us the importance of building strength, power, and balance to our soccer skills. He gave us a quick but effective weightlifting workout, and took us through the exercises. It was a little like weightlifting for dummies, but I thought it was very helpful, even for the returning players, to see the correct techniques. And while I may not end the season buff, I can definitely feel a difference when I stick to the workouts.

We all know that we need to stay focused especially as we get into schoolwork. Still, I'm so excited for when we start our regular season games, and I know that the challenge of juggling soccer and school won't take away from the excitement.

Day Three - Soccer and Ice cream

by Becca Vaughan '12

Going into my third preseason was no different than the first two, waking up early and two-a-days in ninety degree weather. Today started with an upperclassmen practice since the new players were meeting their academic advisors. As usual, no upperclassmen practice can go without music provided by our team DJ, Kristina Vaci. We played games and ran relays and ended the light practice with our new stretching routine created by the track coach. Since there was a large break before our next practice, I did what most of the team did. I took a nap. I was told my freshman year that when I became a junior that my body would not bounce back as quickly as it used to. That was the truth; my body was sore and every tackle felt so much harder.

The second practice of the day shed some light on how the upcoming season was going to be. After completing drills and fitness we were finally able to have our first intersquad scrimmage, which I personally have been looking forward to since arriving on campus. The scrimmage gave us a glimpse of what is to come and allowed us to grow as a team before our first preseason scrimmage against Ashland University. By the end of practice we were all excited for what was to come during this season. The day ended with ice cream and a movie in the Village. We laughed as we watched She’s the Man and ate ice cream. Once the movie was done and the ice cream was gone we all headed back to our dorms for a good night’s rest before the scrimmage.

Now let the games begin!!!!!

Sophomores Deene Levey and Ashley Debeljak after a rough two-a-day.

Sophomore Amanda Wojahn and freshman Katie Dunn.

Day Two - a freshman's perspective :)

By Rachel Bourque '14

The best way to describe preseason is, nerves. No matter what we are doing I’ve been nervous, whether getting to fribley on time or practice on time to even synchronized swimming (wasn’t quite expecting that one) I’ve been nervous. It isn’t because the girls aren’t nice, because they are extremely nice, or that the coaches aren’t nice, because again they are, its just that every little single thing is new. The locker room is new the field is new the people are new the streets are new and the entire area is new. Let me just tell you that I’ve never had to wait to cross the street so much as I do here. In New Hampshire if I had to wait for two cars I would get frustrated, but that’s a whole other subject. So this morning was a surprise, all I really knew was that each grade had to make up its own synchronized swimming routine, I mean how hard is that?...very hard. I don’t know how those people do it, the very first thing we did (a very beautiful and obviously graceful sideways dive) I got nailed in the face underwater. But we kept right on going into our attempt to try to spell CWRUWS which I’m not sure if any of the other freshmen realized was backwards to the audience but again we kept going into a little dance us freshmen learned last night... which we failed miserably at again and last but not least our throw of Leah up in the air where she yells “FRESHMEN” which resulted in Leah basically doing a side flop yelling something that may have slightly sounded like fresh… But what we had that no other group had, that totally should have had us in first, was music, none the less Jason Mraz. But that was in the morning, I won’t go into too much about the afternoon, I’d rather not think about it too much. J All I’m going to say is that it was really hot, really sweaty, and included a lot of running, oh and I got a very nice nail mark in my arm, so maybe it was a little rough too.

Preseason 2010 - Day One Reflection

by Amanda Wojahn '12 from Centennial, Colorado (and returning to play after her second ACL surgery)

So its preseason time again and even though we’ve been through Case preseason before and countless others throughout high school, I think everyone is feeling the excitement and maybe a little angst. After last season’s successes and the goals we’ve set for ourselves and the team for the coming season I think everyone is especially ready to get back to playing and back to working hard. We spend all summer dreaming about getting back to soccer and training to get ready; so basically in the summer I think everyone’s only feeling the excitement. The funny thing about preseason is that it always manages to turn some of the excitement into anxiety and nerves. Recently I’ve been thinking about why we change like that. What I’ve gone through with my knee reminds me of how a lot of people treat preseason. There has been literally years of buildup to me getting back on the field and so much time spent in therapy and training, and a week before coming back to school I was feeling extremely nervous about what the doc was going to say, and what my play was going to be like, etc. It’s like I built it up so much in my head that I guess I was afraid that I could never reach the expectations I had been building up for the past year and a half. So here’s my realization…the one that it took me a year and a half to understand…that starting to play again, or preseason, or the beep test, or whatever it may be isn’t our ultimate goal, it only another part of the process. Same as each summer workout, same as each day spent in therapy, same as each game. I think it took me that long to see that because doctors and therapists always talk about returning to playing like you can mark a day on your calendar and on that day you’ll be totally back to normal. It’s not like we’re going to wake up one day and suddenly be ready. So I guess I just wanted to say that preseason is just part of the process, so whether you made the beep test or didn’t, or had a good practice or didn’t that it’s not end of the world, not even close. So I’ve made a little pact with myself to throw those silly expectations we subconsciously build up in our heads, make us feel anxious and nervous out the window, and just try to do my very best every day, every practice, every game, every time I touch the ball; because if being injured has taught me anything it’s that being able to play such a great game with such great teammates is truly a gift. Seriously, this is awesome, we get to go out everyday this week and play the game we all love for the whole day…what could be better?

Amanda (on far right) at last year's "Kicks for a Cause" game

Spring in Spain - Steph Chinchen '11

I spent this past semester away from Case, studying abroad in Granada, Spain. Studying abroad has thus far been one of the best decisions of my life. For anyone planning on or thinking about studying abroad, be warned - the process is extremely daunting and overwhelming and will probably at some point make you think it's not worth the trouble. However, after spending five months in Spain and learning and growing so much, I hardly remember all the hassle. It is sooo worth it.

I decided on Spain because I've always wanted to be fluent in Spanish. That didn't exactly happen...but I am certainly closer! Although my major is Biology and I plan to go to medial school, I've never stopped taking Spanish courses and I had the flexibility to take a semester off of Bio classes while still earning credits for graduation. In Granada, a city in the south of Spain, I took classes at the Center for Modern Languages, a part of the University of Granada. Although I took classes with all foreign students, all of my professors were Spanish and spoke only Spanish with us. There I lived with an older couple, their dog, and another American student. My "senora" fed us three (delicious!) meals a day, cleaned, did our laundry, and, of course, helped us with our Spanish.

I loved living in Granada. Life in general is so much more relaxed, stress free and sane. I feel as though I took a 5 month break from the hectic, stressful, always thinking about something lifestyle we lead in the US. Granada is a small city with around 200,000 people and it is also quite compact, pretty common for an old European city. All the daily life things were close enough so that I could walk everywhere. A typical day would involve going to class, eating a huuuge lunch, taking a little siesta (because it's impossible to be active after lunch), going back to class, and then meeting friends for a couple drinks and tapas before dinner. Life revolves around food. Granada is especially great because while getting tapas (little bits of food you generally eat with drinks) is a Spanish tradition, Granada is one of the few places that they are always free. Yep, order a drink and you get a free little plate of food. The province of Granada itself is incredible as well. You can literally go skiing and to the beach in the same day. Let's just say life in Spain wasn't very difficult to get used to.

Another reason I chose to go to Spain versus South or Central America is that it's in Europe. Flights are so cheap, it's tempting to plan trip after trip. I was lucky to do some pretty amazing traveling. Some of the highlights included Rome, Berlin, Morocco, and Portugal. Traveling was probably one of the most rewarding experiences in more ways than one. Not only did I see things that I would never dream of seeing, it was challenging. Ryanair flights to obscure locations outside our destination city, bus stations unexpectedly closing, volcanoes erupting, getting mugged, language barriers, broken tents, etc. There was not a single trip that went off without a glitch. But, I think that those experiences are what studying abroad is all about.

Things that aren't easy force you to grow up, mature, learn, and become a more self-reliant and confident person. To all undergraduates, if you are able to study abroad, I would DEFINITELY recommend it. Never again will you have such an easy opportunity to live in a different country. While I certainly missed my family, friends, and home, a semester or even a year is such a small amount of time in the grand scheme of your whole life. And it's well worth every minute!

Coliseum!

Soccer game in Rome- The other side had no fans…

Me in the Sierra Nevada Mountains

Lagos, Portugal

Camel ride in Morocco- it’s quite jerky when they stand up.

Better late than never...

I take full responsibility for the blog being lackluster this spring. We had plenty to write about including our most productive spring season in my time at Case, our first spring game against Division I opponents only, another successful academic semester for the team, our alumni game, a junior recital, and the final send-off of a few of our soon-to-be greatest alumnae. I'm sorry you all missed that.

Luckily, though, we were able to capture some of it on film.

Check out a few videos made by Annie Altenau '11 and Frannie Hogan '11 during our downtime at our spring game at Bowling Green State University on April 10th.

And, some pictures from our rainy Alumni Game held April 18th.

Alumnae: Mary Jean Starr, Katie Skillin, Kelly Goris, Allysen Arbelaez, Liz Altenau,

Jen Soo Hoo, Caitlin Miller, Ana Arruda, Katie Fromwiller, and Kirsten McClain

Current Team and Alumnae

And, a picture of the team (and others) showing up to support Frannie Hogan '11 in her junior recital where she was finally able to show us how very good she is at playing the flute!

Spring Season 2010

by Kendra Simmons '13 (pre-med from Medina, Ohio)

Where has the time gone!!? It seems like it was just yesterday that I wrote the “pre-season” blog for the team. It’s hard to believe that it is now April, and in just a short month, we will all be taking the dreaded final exams and heading home for the summer. This spring, I feel even busier than I did during the soccer season! Most people either have a lot of challenging classes or are filling their schedules with jobs and other activities. Personally, my science classes (Bio, Chem, Bio lab, and Chem lab) are taking over, but I’m trying to balance my time by volunteering at University Hospital in the Emergency Room and working out as often as possible. Along with work and volunteering, I’m currently trying to secure my first main research position in the Cleveland Clinic for the summer. Case’s pre-med curriculum sure keeps people busy, but I know it will be worth it in the end!

On top of all the focus on school and experiences in the medical field, I now get to play soccer three to four times a week! We recently started our spring season which consists of full-team practices on Tuesdays and Sundays and a “small group” training on another day during the week. The small-group training consists of about four or five people working with Tiff on mostly the technical parts of the game. From passing, to volleys, to shooting, to footwork, to simply getting touches on the ball, Tiff keeps us moving for a good, successful hour. The Tuesday and Sunday practices focus more on drills pertaining to possession but still aim to improve our individual skills. Also, on Fridays, we play pick-up soccer in Veale with whoever can make it (usually a mix between some of the soccer girls and boys). It feels great to be back on the field (gaining fitness through playing definitely beats running on a treadmill during the winter!!). I really look forward to preseason in the fall so, as a team, we can improve and hopefully achieve our many goals.

Overall, I could not be happier with my decision to come to Case. This school year (even though it’s not quite over) has been more than I expected. I have made amazing friends, I have gained a lot of knowledge from my difficult coursework, and I had great times being part of the soccer team. I came to Case to gain a lot of experience in the medical field through volunteering and research and to learn as much as possible in order to prepare me for medical school. Just from this freshman year, I can tell I am going right down that path. Also, I came here because of the comfortable mix between athletics and academics. It is nice to know that you are on a team full of girls who are committed to doing well in school and working hard to achieve goals for their future. I feel like Case is the perfect environment to achieve the goals I have planned, so I am very glad to be a student-athlete here!